America's 77 Million Gun Owners Are More Diverse Than You Think

I've seen all kinds of gun crimes and I can tell you Brian Kemp's new law is dangerous American politics in 2022 well if it isn't big more than 100 Republican ads 20 from Dems all centered around guns giving the perception the issue of Guns is divided exclusively along red and blue lines but in a country with 120 guns for every 100 people there are liberals who are pro-gun and conservatives who support restrictions we spoke with six gun owners Across America and for each of them the idea of America's gun culture means something different approximately 77 million adults own a gun in the United States 6 in 10 say their reason for getting one is self-protection like will who asked to be identified only by his first name his interest in Firearms was renewed during the Pandemic part of it was self-protection there were a lot of not in the local area but just surrounding areas there were a lot of Home break-ins and and things like that car breaking so I thought um you know might be a good time associated with my kids getting older so I wanted to protect my family protect my house there will be people who will see these ARs and will say these are the these are the things that are destroying America what do you sort of think when you hear that kind of stuff I'm sympathetic to that um I certainly understand especially for people who have experienced that trauma or or that tragedy I don't take my my ARS out and just start flaunting it my understanding in Maryland there's no rule against open carry for rifles but that doesn't mean I should just go around and flaunt it and carry it or let people know hey I have it it's not what it's for for me in some states it's legal to openly carry weapons including rifles and people do and in places like Missouri folks say it's a way of life weapons guns is a is a culture out here Charles K is a recently retired army officer who's training to be a gunsmith a lot of people need to go hunt in order to put food on the table they grew up you know two three not two three but you know five six seven year olds are learning how to shoot learning gun safety from their parents and you know who else and that's how they grew up so yeah a lot of people have guns around here that's the culture well Charles is skeptical of new gun laws there are some that he supports I wouldn't be opposed to making everything 21 I'm not opposed to all gun transactions you know having to go through a federal firearm licensed dealer of some sort never gone hunting um I've barely fished I I enjoy shooting as a hobby I enjoy shooting paper targets James who also requested his last name not be used shoots only for sport as the son of a retired law enforcement officer many might expect him to be an emphatic supporter of gun rights but he believes the right to gun ownership must be balanced with responsibility a lot of people ask me as soon as they realize that I'm a gun owner like oh man what if somebody breaks into your house are you going to use that and and I sincerely looking deep down into that truthful mirror I don't think I would I think it would be very much a matter of call the police I think a lot of people will get on the campaign the rallying Cry of our rights our rights our rights and I think it would be more helpful for us to also consider the responsibilities attached to that the views about guns can vary widely depending on where you are for example I'm here right now in Suburban Baltimore and the views here are very different than the views in a place like where I am now in downtown Baltimore a place where the murder rate this year is outpacing that of last year I realized it was really a stress reliever like I was having kids like really coming in and wanting to fight everyone Alex long a community activist who's lost family members to gun violence has decided to open a gym to try to lure kids off the streets and away from guns and by the time they left they literally would come to me and like man if I wasn't doing this I probably get locked up in a city with more than 240 homicides so far this year guns here are easy to get 13 14 year olds that will have access and is delivered like I say guys will come around here with cars and trucks full of firearms and the purpose is Target child youth where are our leaders to attack you this issue because these are our kids these aren't some guarantine country or a bunch of soldiers that been heavily trained these our kids and we turned out back one so that's our fault you know so our kids they felt alone they felt like they have to do it on their own and sadly in a lot of cases I have to agree with them Alex and his partner are both gun owners and rather than have the government focus on gun restrictions he'd like to see more funding for programs like his that offer support for those in trouble he's working to try to prevent the worst we got to get back to giving them real support and it's not that nine to five support you may you may have a young man call you three o'clock in the morning and say I want to kill somebody you got to be opened up to actually hear him or her and then work with them so they now hear them and understand that this ain't what I really is that the kind of calls those are the kind of calls you get absolutely the laws around guns changed dramatically this summer when the Supreme Court struck down in New York state law that restricted a person's right to conceal carry a firearm making it far easier now to do so in places like Maryland It's meant an increase in those wanting to conceal carry since the Supreme Court ruling and unbelievable explosion of people coming to get gun training Catherine Harrison is the president of the Maryland 10th calorie Gun Club where they do more than just fire guns the club Roots its history in the Buffalo Soldier and puts a premium on educating its members about current firearm legislation here in the state of Maryland you have to have 16 hours of training so I think most of these instructors have gone from maybe averaging 60 students a month to over 200 plus what's most important to me I think is that gun owners provide or get some level of Education to use their firearms not just go out and buy one and then take it and bring it home put a dresser Michelle Douglas who founded the gun club has owned a gun for 16 years there's a lot of guns in America too is it reasonable to think that we're gonna we're gonna get rid of the guns off the street that ship has sailed it's too late there's too many guns out here on the street and there's too many people that don't follow the rules so lift the restrictions on people like me so we can defend our homes her concern is that more gun laws would impact the wrong people her I'm not the one that the government needs to put restrictions on I'm a law abiding citizen I adhere to the laws lawyers are made to keep honest person honest it does nothing for the criminals they don't care from Missouri to Maryland some Americans believe lawmakers are protecting their right to have a gun others believe they're letting us down Michelle worries about politicians stoking divisions and like many Firearms users wants to be prepared to defend herself in case she's confronted with the violence they speak of so frequently one of the things that happens is like Republicans are pro guns and Democrats are coming for your guns now that may not be true but that's kind of where what do you think about all that well with the ex-president advocating civil violence and disobedience um my concern is do I have enough bullets at home to defend my castle thanks for watching our YouTube channel follow today's top stories and breaking news by downloading the NBC News app

Channel: NBC News

Views: 550,301

Keywords: dc, election, government, meet the press, mtp, politics, washington, washington d.c.

Id: q1IzsAlz0gs

Length: 9min 9sec (549 seconds)

Published: Thu Sep 29 2022